Someone has said “we are our habits”. Most of our habits are taught to us and some we shaped on our own. The collective habits create a lifestyle and make us healthy or diseased. We love food.
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A basic staple of life has never been more appreciated than food. People exhibit some interesting learned behaviors connected with food. Sometimes these habits become critical to our digestive system and general well being. Our digestive system is designed to digest roughly all we eat and catch all essential nutrients from it. But certain habits can bring in adverse effects. EHC advises you not to do the following directly after dinner.
Going for a Walk
Interestingly we all have been taught from childhood that we should go for a brief walk right after dinner. Walking immediately after dinner, in fact, delays a routine of digestion as the blood flow is directed towards hands, legs, etc. It also does not let our body catch nutrients effectively from the food. Some people might suffer from stomach cramps, dizziness, etc., due to walking post dinner.
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Drinking Plenty of Water
Drinking water is essential for a healthy body. But too much of water, right after a meal, might interrupt the routine of digestion. It might also get in the way of healthy levels of bile that is required for digestion.
Eating Fruits
Many Indian households follow the tradition of eating fruits post dinner. Eating fruits post meal might lead to bloating. Moreover, when there is already enough food in the stomach, fruits will take a longer time to digest and it stretches the digestion time. This causes a relapse and disturbs the process of digestion.
Brushing Your Teeth
You may wait for at least 30 minutes before brushing your teeth after dinner. Brushing your teeth immediately after dinner will result in scrubbing the outer layers of your teeth which has just grinded your food and need some time to restore its strength. This could be damaging for your teeth.
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Smoking
First, you should not be smoking at all. But if you do, right after dinner is most definitely not the time. Studies show that the cigarette smoked after a meal is like smoking 10 causing you the risk of cancer to multiply.
Drinking Tea
Tea addicts need to have one hot glass post dinner to feel good. But drinking lot of tea immediately after dinner is not good for the body. The polyphenols contained in the tea reduces the iron absorption from the food you just ate. Also, the ingredients in the tea interfere with the digestion of proteins.
Taking a Shower
When you take a shower, it increases the blood flow to the hands, legs, and other extremities thus reducing the amount of blood flowing to the stomach. This weakens your digestive function.
Driving
As the digesting food requires a lot of blood flow to the stomach, any activity that will divert the blood flow to any other organ is not good. Driving requires focus and concentration and you might feel difficulty in concentration right after dinner. You might also feel exhausted after a full dinner. So, it is advised to wait for an hour before we drive.
Exercising
Ideally, you should exercise in the morning or in the evening much before any meal. The urge to exercise right after dinner might indicate that you do not have adequate time in the day to work out. Exercising post dinner will means a surge in the blood flow that will derail the digestive mechanism and break the metabolism of your body.
Sleeping Immediately
Sleeping immediately after dinner should be avoided as it leads to several gastrointestinal problems and crude digestion. It might also lead to weight gain. So, the best thing is to relax for an hour post dinner which will let your body digest the food effectively.
We will not advise you to go ahead right now and follow these steps. Take a close look at your lifestyle, understand what is good for you and after getting the right information, try and incorporate them in your life gradually. See how it works with you and then you may decide to continue with it or alter it.
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Image courtesy: blogspot.com , cia-on-campus.org , wall-pix.net
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